Printing-machine.



No. 673,475. g Patented May 7, |90I. E. PREBAY.

PRINTING MACHINE.

(Application led Jan. 3, 1900.)

i E l s L rr-E Nonms Firms co. Fuorourno.. wAsmNaToN. n. c.

Patented May 7, |901.

E. PREBAY. PRINTING MAGHINE.

(Application led Jan. 3, 1900.;

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

w: cams bin-ns cc.. Pummuma, wAsmNouN. D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EMILE PREBAY, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

PRINTING-'MACHINI.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 673,475, dated May 7, 1901.

Application iiled January 3, 1900. Serial No. 264:. (No model.)

To if/ZZ whom, t nttty concern,.-

Be it known that I, EMILE PREBAY, printer, a citizen of the Republic of France, and a resident of 49 Boulevard du l\/1ontparnasse,Paris, France, have invented certain new and use' ful Improvements in Printing-Machines for Printing on One Side Only of Continuous Paper or Tissue; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters and igures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in printing-machines for printing on one side only of continuous paper or tissue in whichv the paper to be printed upon is maintained on the cylinder during the printing by means of a pneumatic device.

The present improvements have for their object to simplify the construction of such machines, to improve the action thereof, and to render them more accurate, regular, and fanltless in working.

l will describe the said improvements with reference to the accompanying drawings, which. show a printing-machine with pneumatic grippers, to which the said improvements are applied.

Figures 1 and 1a are side elevations of the left and right hand` halves of a Web-printing machine embodying my invention. Figs. 2 and 3 are detail sectional views of the impression-cylinder. Fig. 4 is a part plan View of the arrangement for actuating the roller for supplying the continuous sheet to be printed upon and that for receiving the printed sheet, as also the roller which supplies the blottingpaper. Fig. 5 is a part elevation of the impression cylinder, showing the device for regulating one of the register-pins. Fig. 6 shows a section on line A A, Fig. 5. Fig. 7 shows the arrangement of the 'driving-pulley of the receiving-roller.

In the machines of the kind indicated as heretofore constructed the impression-cylinder is provided with a single pneumatic gripper and the continuous sheet to be printed upon is maintained applied to the cylinder by causing it after leaving the cylinder to pass over a suitably-arranged guide-roller having a drawing action, with the printed face of the web in contact with said roller. This arrangement is defective in several respccts, and in particular because smudging is always to be feared, notwithstanding the provision of more or less complicated mechanical devices for effecting the cleaning of the roller, because it is the freshly-printed side of the vsheet which passes over such roller. According to my invention I obviate this inconvenience by doing away with the said guiding and drawing roller, and I insure the effective adhesion of the sheet. upon the' taining in the simplest manner the guiding of the sheet during its travel.

The continuous-sheetf to be printed upon unrolls from the supply-roller a, passes over guide-bars, such as 16 17 18 19 20, and over the guide-roller 21, whence it passes around the impression-cylinder 0, and thence to the receiving-roller d in passing over guides, such as e 22 23 24 25, fixed at the top of the framing. On the impression-cylinder c the sheet is securely held by the suckers or pneumatic grippers g 28, Figs. 1 to 3, of which one at least is in action thereon at any given moment. For this'purpose a vacuum is produced i n the suckers when they are in the position l in order that they may attract the sheet f, and the exhaust is maintained until the sheet becomes detached at 2 in passing tangentially away from the cylinder to the guide e. It will be observed that while one of the suckers-g, for examplepasses from 1 to 2 the other, 28, passes to 1, where it enters into action, so that this sucker will already have commenced its action before the other ceases to hold the sheet, and the latter is consequently always held by pneumatic action.

The exhaust is produced in the suckers as IOO follows: The shaft t' of the cylinder o is hollow at both ends at j and at 29, Fig. 2, and the suckers g 28 are connected, respectively, to the channelsj and 29 by tubes k 30, the said channels being in communication by the tubes Z 31 with an exhausted chamber. The tube or pipe 3l extends downward to the foot ofthe machine, thence across the same to the front side, and thence toward the left, where it is connected with the tube or pipe Z or an enlarged portion 34 thereof, which latter is connected by pipe 35 with any suitable weliknown suction or vacuum apparat-us. (Not shown.) The pipe 3l is carried to the front of the machine for the purpose of locating a suitable cut-off and operating the same and the cut-off for pipe l from mechanism located on the front of the machine. To this end pipes l and 3l are provided with stop-cocks 'nt and 32, respectively, the plugs of which carry pinions gearing with toothed sectors oscillated by cams n 33 on the shaft that operates the carriage and inking-in appliances. The cam n is so formed and fixed that the cock m is opened immediately before the platen commences its working stroke, the sucker g being then at 1. At the same time the bar his pressed down upon the sheetf, so as to press this upon the sucker, after which it is at once raised again. The cam f/iafterward closes the cock' m soon as in consequence of the rotation of the cylinder c the sucker g has passed the position 2, in which the sheet f has passed away from it. The cam 33 is so formed and fixed that it causes the cock 32 to open as soon as the sucker 28 arrives at l during the rotation of the cylinder c, so that this sucker holds the paper sheet without re-v quiring the bar h to be applied thereto. The cam 33 afterward closes the cock 32 when the sucker 28 has arrived at 2.

It will be seen at Fig. 1 that the sheetf, which unrolls from the roller ct, hangs free between this and the guide-bar 16. Itis 'indispensable that the sheet should have some slack in order to have full liberty to place itself squarely on the cylinder c. In order, however, that it shall unroll correctly, it is necessary to weight it somewhat by placing a small wooden roller b in the loop of the hanging part. y

In order that the slack of the sheet be maintained during the printing operation, it is in dispensable that the speed of unrolling of the sheet shall always be practically equal to the speed of' rolling up on the roller (Z. For obtaining this result the relative speeds of the rollers d and a are controlled as follows: The receiving-roller d is driven by a belt o, Figs. 1 and '7, which is actuated through a pinion p by one ofthe toothed rings q on the cylin-- der c, which serve for effecting its rotation by the form-carriage. The belt o is suitably stretched by a weight r. It passes around a pulley 34 on the shaft of the roller. When the receiving-roller CZ has become wound to its full extent with the continuous sheet, it

is necessary fo replace' it by an empty one. Also in order that the same pulley 34 may serve successively for all the receiving-rollers it is not mounted directly upon the axis 36 of the roller, but upon a sleeve 35, that is slid on the left-hand end of this axis, which is there formed with a flat surface fitting a corresponding fiat surface iu the bore of lthe sleeve, so -that the axis carries the sleeve around with it. As the belt 0 is driven with a constant speed, while the roller (l has to be rotated with a gradually-decreasing speed in proportion as its diameter increases by the winding on of the printed sheet, the pulley 34 is not fixed on the sleeve 35, but is connected thereto by a frictiomclutch capable 0f regulation, whereby the winding on of the sheetf can be effected at a tension regulatable at will. This friction-clutch is shown at Fig. 7. It will be seen that the sleeve 35 has a circular collar 37 formed on it and has a screwthread formed on part of its length. On this sleeve is slid, first, a leather washer 38, which bears against the collar, then the pulley 34, then a leather washer 39, a loose metal collar 40, and a strong helical spring 41, against which presses a wheel-nut 42, screwed upon the end of the sleeve. A screw 43,which passes through the loose collar 40 and takes into a groove 49 of the sleeve, allows the collar a certain amount of play in the direction of the sleeve, but obliges the latter to turn with the collar. In screwing the nut 42 upon the sleeve the spring 41 is compressed, and this consequently presses the collar 40 with greater or less force toward the fixed collar 37, thus producing greater or less frictional adhesion between these parts and the pulley-boss through the medium of the leather washers38 and 39. For regulating this adhesion, and consequently the tension under which the sheet f is wound up on the roller, it suices to turn the wheel-nut 42 more or less in one direction or the other. The receiving-roller d in its turn controls the feeding-roller c by means of an endless cord s, Figs. 1 and 4, which passes over two grooved conical pulleys t and u, 'fixed on the axes of the two rollers. By this arrangement itis always easy to regulate at will the speed at which the sheetf is unrolled,`as it only requires for this purpose to shift the cord s from one groove to another of the two pulleys. Fig. 4 shows this arrangement,v as also an arrangement of regulating-screws Q2 for regulating the transverse positions of the rollers so that the unrollingand rolling up of the sheet may always take place correctly.

It will be seen that as the feed-roller ct is placed in the machine in a relatively elevated position the placingthereof mayT present some difficulty, as this roller is sometimes very heavy. For facilitating such placing I have arranged the supports of the roller so that they may be lowered for placing thereon a filled roller, after which they are raised into position by means of suitable toothed gearlng arranged so that this operation is easily ef- IOO IIO

' this purpose.

fected. This arrangement is shown at Fig. l. y

It will be seen that the bearings that receive the axis of the roller a are formed on arms x, which are fixed upon a shaft y, mounted in the framing. This shaft can be rotated by a crank-handle z, to which it is connected by a train of toothed Wheels 3 4. While the machine is at work the arms or are fixed in their Vertical position by thumb-nuts 5. the roller a requires to be changed, these nuts are removed and the arms a: are lowered until the bars 6, fixed thereto, bear against an abutment-bar 7, which connects the two sides of the framing. In this` position, which is shown in dotted lines, the empty roller can be readily removed and replaced by a full one. This having been done, the bars are easily raised again by turning the crank-handle z. When the arms a; have been brought back to the position shown in full lines, they are again secured by the thumb-nuts 5.

In certain cases it is of advantage for preventing smudging to interpose a sheet of blotting-paper between the coils of the printed sheet f when ceiling it up on the roller d. For this purpose a roller 9, carrying a continuous sheet of blotting-paper, is mounted in bearings 8, which are fixed on the rear end of the framing of the machine. The unwinding of the paper is controlled by a brake for insu ring the regular coiling up thereof together with the printed sheet. For insuring the reg- ,ularity of such coiling it is necessary that the v roller 9 should be at about the same level as the roller d and close to the latter, as shown on the drawings. The framing has been constructed to suit this arrangement, as also for conveniently carrying the guidebars and rollers for the continuous sheet f, as above described, and for facilitating access to the inking apparatus, the frame being made so that access can be gained in front of the inking apparatus for attending to this. For this purpose the framing has been sufficiently increased in lengthbetween the inking apparatus arranged at 10 and the supply-roller at a so that a workman can stand in this part of the machine, which has been left free for The workman gains access to this space from the left-hand side of the machine, a gap being left on that side of the framing for this purpose between the dotted lines ll l2 and the belt o being raised up sufficiently opposite this point by passing it over guide-rollers 13 14.

The machine constructed as above described is suitable for printing in one or more colors.

In order to insure a reliable register for the printed sheet during its passage through the machine, the sheet has holes formed at distances apart along its edges, as is usual, and workmen situated on each side of the machine guide the sheet so that pins provided on each side of the cylinder enter one or other of these holes at each revolution of the cylinder; but owing to the shrinking and expansion of the WhenY paper in Width, due to variations in its hygrometric condition, it is necessary to be able to vary to a certain extent the distance apart of the pins on the opposite sides of the cylinder. For this purpose the pins are mounted as shown at Figs. 5 and 6. It will be seen that the pin 44 is carried by a small slide 45, which can slide in a dovetailed guidinggroove 46, iiXed to the pneumatic gripper g. This guide-groove has at its end an anglepiece, in which is rotatably mounted a regulating-screw 48, that cannot shift longitudinally therein,bu1 which screwsinto athreaded hole in the slide 45, so that by turning the two screws 48 simultaneously in one direction or the other the two opposite slides, with their pins, can be adjusted nearer together or farther apart,` as may be required.

I claiml. In a Web-press, the combination with the iinpression-cylinder, of two pneumatic grippers arranged at different points of the periphery of said cylinder and relatively to the travel of the web around the same, so as to cause at least one of said grippers to hold said web at all times during the revolution of the cylinder, for the purpose set forth.

2. In a web-press, the combination with the impression-cylinder, pneumatic grippers arranged at different points of the periphery of said cylinder and relatively to the travel of the web around the same, so as to cause at least one of said grippers to hold the web at all times during the rotation of the cylinder, and vacuum-pipes connected with the grippers; of cut-off devices for periodically cutting off and restablishing communication between the grippers and their vacuum-pipes, and actuating mechanism for said devices operating substantially as described for the purpose set forth.

3. In a Web-press, the combination with the impression-cylinder and pneumatic grippers arranged at different points of its periphery; of a registering-pin at each end of said grippers and means for adjusting the pins lengthwise of the cylinder, for the purpose set forth.

4. In a Web-press, the combination With the impression-cylinder, of two pneumatic grippers arranged at different points of the periphery of said cylinder and relatively to the travel of the web around the same, so as to cause at least one of said grippers to hold said web at all times during the revolution of the cylinder, a register-pin at each end of and carried by the grippers and means for adjusting the pins of each gripper toward and from each other, for the purpose Vset forth.

5. In a printing-machine of the kind referred to, the combination of a framing, a feed-rollera mounted thereon, an impressioncylinder c having pneumatic grippers, a receiving-roller d, guide-rods such as 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20, and a guide-roller 2l over which passes the web to be printed which passes from the feed-roller a to the cylinder c, guiding cross-bars e, 22, 23, 24 fixed on the top of IOO IIO

IIS

.framing for passage of the .printed web, an

the framing for passage of the printed web, a belt o Worked by the impression-cylinder and driving a pulley 34 mounted with adjustable friction on the axis of the receivingroller and a band s connecting two grooved conical pulleys keyed on the axis of the feed p and receiving rollers respectively all substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6'. In a printing-machine of the kind referred to, the combination of a feed-roller a, an impression-cylinder c having pneumatici grippers, a receiving-roller d, guide-rods such l as 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20, and a guide-roller21 over which passes the web to be printed from the feed roller to lthe cylinder c, guiding i cross-bars e, 22, 23, 24 fixed on the top of the inker 10, a belt o worked by the impressioncylinder for driving the receiving-rloller rollers 13 and 14 for `guiding the Said belt, vand l a framing for carrying all these parts, lthis framing consisting of two side frames one of which has a gap for access of a Workman between the inker and the feed-roller; .all substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

7. In a Web-press, the combination with the printingcylinder, the Web=feeding appliances and means for holding the web of material l to the cylinder as said web travels around the same, of a Winding-roll and guide-rolls 'for guiding the printed web to said windingroll, said guide-rolls so arranged relatively to the printing-.cylinder that the printed face 0i' the web will at no time com-e in Contact with said guide-rolls.

-In testimony that I claim .the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name in pres= ence of two subscribing witnesses.

EMILE PREBAY@ 4Viitnesses i EDWARD P. MACLEAN, ALCIDE FABE, 

